There were 120 boats that fished today that had a hard ride in while 284 boats laid in to recoup. Each boat gets to choose which 3 days to fish. Even in calm seas, a day’s fishing can be draining. Up at 4:00 AM to make a 3-hour run to the canyons and 7 hours of trolling under a hot sun before the 3-hour return trip to the docks. Most boats fished Monday and Tuesday and needed a day of rest. When the seas kick up the boat and passengers can take a beating. That happened to the some of the 120 boats that fish today as the seas picked up on their run home.
The big story of the 46th White Marlin Open is not visible to spectators, but the fishing is red hot and over 900 whites were released the first two days. The Open record is 1,358 whites caught in 2016 and the sea temperatures for 2019 are very similar to 2016.
In the money categories there was not too much movement. The top fish in all divisions remained in place. “Chasin Tail” is still holding onto 1st with $1,450,000 and the “Backlash” is still winning $1,500,000.
No qualifying blue marlin were weighed today so, “Haulin N Ballin” is still winning $740,000 for the 465.5-pound blue caught by Craig Dickerson.
The 277-pound mako shark caught by Greg Robinson off the “Polarizer” is still the only qualifier and is holding $225,000.00.
The top tuna category didn’t move with the “Crisdel” is still winning $940,000 for the 201-pound bigeye caught Monday. But it did add another big winner when the “Reeldiculous” (which is in the small boat division) weighed Graham Ward’s 121-pound yellowfin worth $100,000.
The big change in the dolphin division was small boat “Right Hook” weighed a 28.5-pound dolphin caught by Robbie Thrift and took the $75,000 from the small boat winnings of the "Hellsea’s" 22-pounder.
